Cheapest Car Insurance in New York 2026

New York's cheapest car insurance leaders shift depending on your driver profile, but Progressive will be the cheapest for many driver types. It has the cheapest policy for those who need full coverage (which is most drivers) and for several age groups and drivers with violations. But it's never one-size-fits-all in insurance: Erie Insurance, a mid-sized carrier is cheapest for families with young teens and for bad credit, while NYCM Insurance is cheapest for minimum coverage and certain driving violations. 

How to Choose: Use the table below to find the profile that best fits you and your family, because the cheapest car insurance company can vary widely depending on the age of drivers and their driving history. Each section will provide context about how much cheaper some insurers are than others. Drivers with a clean-record should hone in on the decision of whether to buy full or minimum coverage. 

If you want to jump straight to reading about our winners based on an analysis of thousands of rates, our reviews for Progressive, NYCM Insurance and Erie break for whom these companies are affordable and what other non-cost factors you should keep an eye on.

Minimum Coverage

NYCM Insurance, a New York-only regional insurer, is cheapest for minimum coverage at $28 per month. Kemper, a specialty insurer, is second at $34 per month. New York's minimum coverage is more extensive than most states, especially wne it comes to coverage for medical injuries. It includes $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, $10,000 property damage, plus $50,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $25,000/$50,000 uninsured motorist coverage, all mandatory. However, minimum coverage in New York still pays nothing for damage to your own vehicle, so it only makes sense if you drive a low-value car you could afford to replace out of pocket.

Full Coverage

Progressive has the most affordable full coverage at $63 per month but it's lead is practically insignificant: NYCM Insurance and Kemper Insurance are right behind at $64 and $68 per month. Your rates are individual to you, and the factors affecting them will dwarf any $5 difference in overall averages, so we recommend that drivers looking for full coverage shop among all three to find the cheapest rate for themselves.

How to Choose

The fact is that most drivers finance the purchase of their car, which usually means they'll be required to get full coverage. But if you own your car outright, you should choose between full and minimum coverage based on your car's value.

Take a sample driver with Progressive for example: they are paying $29 per month or $348 per year to upgrade to full coverage instead of minimum coverage. If your car is worth more than $5,000, full coverage adds collision and comprehensive protection at a price that is easy to justify. New York City area drivers should also consider that vehicle theft rates in the boroughs are elevated — comprehensive coverage pays for stolen vehicles.

But if your car is worth less than $4,000, the annual cost of comprehensive and collision may soon exceed what you would collect in a total loss, and it's worth considering whether you should drop that part of your policy. Use our car insurance calculator for New York and our guide on when to drop collision and comprehensive to run your specific numbers. MoneyGeek's guide to how much car insurance you need breaks down the reasoning on why drivers pick one or the other.

Car insurance in New York for a family with young drivers can be extremely expensive, and the best way to save is to get a quote with one of either Erie Insurance or Progressive. Erie Insurance, a mid-sized insurer that doesn't have the brand cache as some big names, is the cheapest option on average for families with  16-, 17-, 19- and 22-year-olds. A family with a 16-year-old will pay $428 per month for females and $442 per month for males, for example. Progressive, on the other hand, is cheapest for 18-year-olds and for most drivers in their early twenties. 

Like most states, New York insurance companies charge families by both age and gender, and young male drivers pay the most of any driver type. Drivers become less expensive to insure over time, as rates with the cheapest company drop significantly in early teen years (as much as $90 per month) before leveling off around age 25. The difference in cost between male and female drivers also becomes insignificant at that age: only a $2 difference with Progressive according to our analysis.

Progressive, Kemper and NYCM Insurance are three cheap options for car insurance for seniors in New York, with their rates only separated by $2 per month: Progressive at $86 per month, Kemper at $86 per month and NYCM at $88 per month. These rates are for the average senior in New York. Your personal rates for these three companies are unlikely to be bunched so tightly together, but our analysis gives you a starting point of three providers from which you can spend 10 to 15 minutes getting a quote, as these are the most likely to offer affordable rates.

New York state can have some major swings in car insurance rates depending exactly where in the state you live: the same carrier and the same coverage costs $103 per month ($1,236 per year) more in Queens Village than in Utica. Unsurprisingly given the density of their population and traffic, boroughs and neighborhoods in New York City have the highest rates in the state. 

Kemper is the cheapest option in  several NYC or NYC-adjacent entries (Brooklyn, Astoria and Yonkers). The New York City boroughs carry rates that reflect extreme vehicle density, elevated accident frequency, and higher average repair costs. The city of Utica, with NYCM providing the cheapest insurance at $37 per month, reflects the opposite: low population density and limited claim frequency. Either NYCM or Kemper tend to be affordable in New York cities but those living in denser areas should get a quote with Kemper first.

Progressive is the most affordable insurance in New York for the three major violations, but NYCM Insurance is worth quoting for those caught texting while driving. 

Drivers with speeding tickets or at-fault accidents pay an average of $65 per month and $63 per month respectively with Progressive, not far above its standard base rates. Progressive's car insurance rates after a DUI in New York are only $66 per month on average, indicating that violations aren't penalized as much with Progressive as they are with other insurers. Those with a texting while driving violation should look into NYCM Insurance, which has the cheapest monthly rates of $64 per month. 

Another type of risk insurers measure is credit score, and New York is one of the many states that allow the use of credit scores in insurance pricing. For drivers with bad credit, Erie Insurance leads at $149 per month. The gap between Erie's bad-credit rate and Progressive's good-credit rate is $86 per month ($1,032 per year), so although you may not be able to improve your credit score overnight, working to fix it over time can result in major savings.

MoneyGeek analyzed rates from New York state filings across all residential ZIP codes in New York. The analysis covers all available car insurance companies for minimum and full coverage comparisons and violation profiles.

• Baseline driver profile: 40-year-old male, clean driving record, good credit, $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident/$100,000 property damage full coverage, $1,000 deductible. All rates on this page reflect this profile unless the section specifies otherwise.
• Young drivers: Ages 16 through 25 on a family policy, split by gender. New York uses gender as a rating factor.
• Seniors: 65-year-old driver, same vehicle and coverage as the baseline.
• Violations: Baseline profile with one driving record variable changed; all other variables held constant.
• Poor credit: Baseline profile with credit tier changed to poor. New York permits credit as a rating factor, subject to New York Department of Financial Services regulations on credit-based insurance scoring.
• Coverage tier: Full coverage reflects $100,000/$300,000/$100,000 liability limits with a $1,000 deductible. Minimum coverage reflects New York's required minimums: $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident and $10,000 property damage, plus $50,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $25,000/$50,000 uninsured motorist coverage — all mandatory per NY DFS.
• USAA: Excluded from provider tables; available only to military, veterans and immediate family. Eligible drivers should include USAA in any quote comparison.
• Violation surcharge window: Speeding tickets, at-fault accidents and texting while driving typically affect rates for three years per the New York DMV surcharge schedule. DUI or DWAI convictions may carry longer surcharge periods under individual insurer underwriting guidelines — verify directly with your insurer.
• State-specific notes: New York is a no-fault state; PIP covers first-party medical costs up to $50,000 per person regardless of fault. New York does not use SR-22 or FR-44; a DUI or DWAI conviction triggers license revocation and a Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) fee over three years. Gender is a permitted rating factor. 

See our full rate methodology.